Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Sue Brower (Advice for Novelists, Part 3)

Our series of blog posts in which industry professionals (editors, agents, publicists, authors, etc.) continues again today with thoughts from Sue Brower."If you could say one thing to aspiring novelists, what would you say?"

Finish your novel! I often hear from novelists who have a complete marketing plan, list of endorsers, and brand strategy—but only three chapters of their novel completed. It is very difficult for an editor to evaluate your work if it’s not complete. What does a complete manuscript mean? First, it tells me that you can finish a book. Second, it tells me whether you know the mechanics of writing. Third, it tells me if you have the ability to flesh out the characters and keep my attention. Finish your novel! Anything else is a distraction.

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About Me

I've been in love with reading since I was a kid dragging home bags of books from the library. When I was twelve I started dreaming about becoming a published author. That dream came true when my first novel Thicker than Blood won a national writing contest. It became the first book in the Thicker than Blood series, which also includes Bound by Guilt, Ties that Bind, and Running on Empty. I have also written Jupiter Winds and Jupiter Storm the first and second books in the Jupiter Winds series. My children's fantasy Alison Henry and the Creatures of Torone released in 2017. I live in Pennsylvania with my menagerie of dogs, a tabby cat, and a Paint mare named Sky.

3 1/2 stars. The premise of this story is intriguing, but I found myself thoroughly confused through about half of the book. I was hoping for a little more explanation about why certain things were happening. Also, the way the characters...

I didn't intend to read this book as fast as I did, but I couldn't put it down. Nancy Rue has finished out this series with a beautiful page turner. I love how she writes with such realism, and yet never pushes so far that we feel we've ...

Catherine Madera's writing shines again in this touching novel. Lots of gorgeous description, tight
dialogue, and real-world grit. The story of two wounded souls (a young woman and a mare) who impact each other in a powerful way. Highly ...

There's a lot of meat in this little book. Ray's philosophy about horses shines here, and I enjoyed getting to know them as he's kind of the father of much of the gentle-yet-firm-when-necessary horsemanship trainers out there. I'll need ...